Blog

At the spring Family Day event hosted by JCFS Chicago’s disability services staff, children with disabilities and their siblings played with slime, built with Legos, had their faces painted and posed in a photo booth. While the children and teens were engaged in the various sensory activities, their parents relaxed for a couple hours and made connections of their own.

When a Duman Opportunity Center job seeker was hired as an elevator operator at The Breakers at Edgewater Beach, a senior living facility in Chicago, it opened the door for five more individuals with disabilities to secure positions there in the following months.

For some children, simply getting through the school day is a struggle. This is especially true at the beginning of the school year, when students are putting a lot of emotional effort into remaining regulated during the school day as they learn new routines, meet new teachers and classmates, and get used to new spaces.

The Wakschlags are a Jewish family full of love, compassion, and strength. Milt, a retired attorney and ordained rabbi, and Laurie, a professor and vice chair at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital and Northwestern University, live in Lincolnwood and have three adult children. Tmima (Mims) and Efraim (Fry) both have intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Their daughter Shira and her husband, Eli Rosenblatt, have two daughters, Maerav and Bella. Bella is on the autism spectrum. 

What started as a fun activity to enjoy together has evolved into a full-blown hobby for Hart. Through pottery, he has also gained more confidence and independence. 

The Jewish fall holidays are filled with many themes – solemnity, renewal, joy, family, food and much more. But underneath, there are also themes of loss and grief, of questions, of connection and healing from the loss.  

JVS Career & Employment, a part of the family of services within JCFS Chicago, is much more than a recruitment resource—it is a strategic workforce partner that helps employers find qualified talent while reducing the time, cost, and effort associated with hiring.

When Ally Frank began her internship with JCFS Chicago’s Jewish Community Services program last fall, she didn’t know what to expect. The internship would focus on community social work and outreach—areas that differed from both her prior experiences and her long-term career goals, which centered on micro and clinical practice.

The JCFS Chicago internship program may not be widely known, but its benefits are far-reaching—strengthening the agency’s programs while providing students with valuable professional experience.

A few years ago, I received a call from a young adult in addiction recovery in another state. He wanted to create a recovery meeting specifically for Jews but wasn’t sure how to begin. I offered suggestions for finding a meeting space, sent him several formats used in Jewish recovery meetings, and, with their permission, connected him with three people in his state—former Chicagoans who had been active with JCFS Chicago Addiction Services and had experience starting and sustaining meetings—to help provide local support.